A man from Kentucky, who spent 20 years behind bars for a 2003 murder, was arrested on Friday for allegedly killing his girlfriend and her 13-year-old daughter.

Kayla Blake, 37, and her daughter, Kennedi McWhorter, were discovered deceased after Blake’s co-worker asked Rowan County police for a welfare check. Joshua Cottrell, 44, is suspected of having stabbed and beaten Blake and stabbed her daughter before escaping the scene, according to WLEX.

Reports indicate that Cottrell and Blake were romantically involved and shared a home. Neighbors last saw Cottrell at their residence the day before the bodies were found.

Cottrell is thought to have relocated the bodies of Blake and McWhorter. Officers found Blake in a back bedroom and her daughter across the hall, as reported by WLEX.

On the same day, officers found Cottrell in a hospital 300 miles away, with bloodstains on his clothes. After leaving the hospital, he was arrested for the murders of Blake and McWhorter, as previously reported by CrimeOnline.

Previously, according to WLKY, Cottrell had been convicted for the 2003 murder of Richie Phillips in a Hardin County motel. Cottrell had hidden Phillips’ body in a suitcase and disposed of it. Phillips’ body was found eight days later in Rough River Lake in Breckinridge County by a fisherman.

Cottrell, then 21, reportedly admitted to killing Phillips, claiming Phillips made unwanted sexual advances toward him. Though prosecutors sought the death penalty, a jury convicted him of second–degree manslaughter, and he received the maximum sentence of 20 years.

Kentucky Justice & Public Safety Cabinet officials told WAVE that Cottrell was released from prison in 2019, and he completed his Mandatory Reentry Supervision nearly eight months later.

In the latest case, Cottrell is charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence. He remains jailed on $1 million bond.

[Feature Photo: McCracken County Jail]